


Into the Morning

by missema



Series: Allyse Shepard, Space Cadet [13]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Dating, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Love, Oral Sex, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-30
Updated: 2012-04-10
Packaged: 2017-11-02 18:22:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/371970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missema/pseuds/missema
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place in ME3 after re-establishing the romance with Kaidan on the Citadel.</p><p>After they rekindle their relationship, Kaidan wants to go on a date with Allyse Shepard.  It ends up differently than either of them pictured.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Shepard, we can wait just a little longer."  Kaidan's tone was almost exasperated, but he shot a grin at her, the hand near her knee squeezed lightly and slid a little further up her thigh underneath the table, letting her know he wasn't truly bothered by her enthusiasm.  The same undercurrent that had always been between them throbbed with renewed life, fueled by their combined ardor.  If this meeting had taken place on the ship, there would be no question where they'd be right now, but perhaps that was the reason Kaidan chose the Citadel rather than her cabin.  He sat across from Allyse at Apollo's Cafe, their food and drinks long gone, a content, lazy look on his happy face.  He'd refused her less than subtle invitations back to the Normandy.

She gave a dramatic, heavy sigh, but grinned back at him, though truthfully, her smile had been more or less permanent since she sat down.  Waiting?  She could wait, if that's what he truly wanted.  It had been years, what was a few more hours?  It might even be fun, though not as fun as the reward at the end of the waiting, but still, it would be new territory for them.

There had always been something in the way, something between them, like rules and regs or just space and time.

The world as they knew it was crashing down around them, and this was as good of a time as any.  Kaidan was a Spectre just as she was, and in the Alliance - she had a ship and he had a biotic squadron.  Things felt far more equal between them now.  Allyse was back from the dead, a peacemaker and leading the fight she'd been warning people about for years.

And Kaidan was different, more like himself than ever - it was a strange way to describe the change in him, but accurate.  Maybe that was what happened when someone started to live up to the potential within themselves, pushing their doubts aside.  Everything about him was more confident, more comfortable from his speech to the way he fought.  She'd noticed back on Mars, he moved with the fluid precision of an experienced fighter, someone trained as the best.

"The Major has become very capable."  Liara's words came back to her - the assessment more accurate than the asari could possibly know.

Besides, everyone knew about the two of them, or at least what had been between them on the original Normandy.  She could just tell, even when she talked to Hackett after Mars.  He knew, and Anderson definitely knew, but he chose to stay mum about it.  He'd never say anything, Allyse knew that.  It would break the strict code they had, not to butt in too much.  Their relationship was comfortable, Anderson adopting an almost avuncular position in her life, but not so close as to pry into her relationship with Kaidan.  Maybe she was getting special consideration, but things weren't normal anymore and there were bigger things to worry about.

"I have a lot to make up to you."  Kaidan said in a low voice, bringing her back to the present.  Turning back to him, her eyes wandered over his face, taking in the new silver strands of hair near his temples that she found so attractive.  He sounded remorseful and guilty, and she reached across the table to pat his arm, wordlessly reassuring him.

"Kaidan, I thought we did this when you were in the hospital."

"You and I weren't together then.  What we said that allowed this to happen, and I'm grateful."  He clasped her hand again, both of his covering hers.  "But as your partner, boyfriend, lover, whatever you want to call me, there are things that need to be made up for."

"Made up for how exactly?"  Allyse raised an eyebrow at him, smirking.

"That's up to you to decide really.  I'm sure we can come to some kind of compromise.  But before that, let's enjoy our shore leave without running back to the ship."

"I'm not sure I get your meaning."  Allyse's face was scrunched up in a confused, cute way, her features crinkled toward the middle of her face, her mouth a perplexed smirk and Kaidan smiled at her again, unable to help himself.

"Well, I've always wanted to go on a real date with you.  I mean, we've already had dinner, so what are you up for, dancing, more drinks?"

Allyse lost her confused look, a shy smile taking it's place, spreading across her face.  "You want to go on a date with me?"

"Well, yeah.  That was kind of why I invited you out to dinner.  I mean, we won't be here for very long, and I just want to do something normal, you know?  Have some fun with you while we have the chance."

"Blasto.  We're going to go see the new Blasto."  She announced.

"You want to see _that_?"

"Oh, don't say it like that, you elitist!  You asked me what I wanted to do, and you know I can't dance.  So, Blasto."

"Hey."  He was playing at sounding offended, but didn't manage it at all, even with the pout he put on.  "I have fond memories of dancing with you at Flux.  That was a good place, I kind of miss it."   Kaidan's chuckles were warm and obliging, she knew she wouldn't have to convince him further.  "Are you sure?"

"Neither of us are drunk enough to go dancing."  She answered, standing up and stretching.  Kaidan's brown eyes followed the lines of her body, making her self-conscious halfway through arching her back and extending her limbs towards the sky.  It really didn't bother her, if there was anyone she wanted looking at her, it would be Kaidan, but all the same, she felt the scrutiny, the something behind his eyes that let her know just what this date was leading up to.

It was foreplay; a slow buildup as part of the fantasy Kaidan had created in his head.  He really was a romantic.


	2. Chapter 2

Endless explosions and vorcha closeups weren't normally his thing, but Kaidan had to admit, the Blasto movie wasn't that bad.  Well, it was, but being with Allyse was far better than anything presented on screen.  She'd laughed, watching the ridiculous scenes play out, her face free from all the stress and strain, almost the same, playful face of the woman he'd fell for so long ago.  There were parts, explosions worthy of Sherpard herself, and he had to wonder if an enterprising writer had taken a few details from her file.  But she didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she didn't give any indication that she cared.

It had been too long since he'd seen a movie, too long since he'd done anything except worry and fight.  It was still there, in the back of his mind - the hand that went to his concealed sidearm when an uncoordinated patron brushed too close to Shepard on accident, or the scenes in the movie that resembled Earth and reminded him of all he'd left behind.  Instead he focused on the head resting on his shoulder, melodic musical laughter coming from his date, the woman that the fates had been kind enough to send back to him.

Afterward, his hand in hers, they made their way back to the ship.  With most of the crew still on shore leave, no one noticed as they both headed back to her cabin.  Traynor wasn't at her usual post, and Kaidan hardly noticed the skeleton crew that still onboard the Normandy.  Back in her quarters, she sat down next to him and handed him a glass of wine.

The room was comfortable, even if the unfinished parts left visible tubing and wires all around.  His eyes flicked towards the large bed unconsciously, and he wryly thought back to her visits to him in Huerta Memorial.  If he'd known her bed was big enough for two, he might have joined the Normandy crew sooner.  It would have been better than working for Udina, but then they might not have been in time to save the Council.  The idle speculation made him start to frown, but it was quickly stopped by Allyse.  

Hovering above him, her warm hand was trailing down the side of his face, and he could smell candy and popcorn mixed with wine as she kissed him.  Before he could respond, she pulled away and sat back, her eyes troubled.

"Kaidan, tell me the truth."  Allyse leaned forward, into him as she spoke and he reached an arm out to her, closing the gap between them.  "What did you do for those two years, the years I was gone."

His breath whistled between his teeth as he sucked it in, and he found himself sitting up and back, just out of her reach.

But those grey eyes were still there, staring at him, intent on getting an answer. He took a long drink of wine, and then another, just to have time to put this thoughts in order.

"I grieved, Shepard.  I missed you."  He gulped and turned his head away from her, setting his empty glass on the table.  "I thought about you, told my parents about us, about how much I loved you.  We had a memorial."  He had to stop again as he spoke, losing himself in despondent memories of what a mess he was.  Kaidan shook his head, partly to escape the recollections, but also to bring himself back to the present.

Allyse moved closer to him, practically on his lap, her hand covering his, stroking his knuckles in a soothing way.

"This isn't what I had in mind for tonight."  Kaidan's voice was thick when he spoke again, and Allyse snaked an arm around him.

She slid a hand around the back of his neck, anchoring herself to him as she kissed his wet face.  There were tears there he didn't remember crying, just the wretched, hollow pain in his chest that he'd though he'd banished forever when he saw her on Horizon.

"I'm here, now.  And I needed to know, I just _needed_ to ask."  Allyse was whispering, embracing him, her body pressed tight to his.  Their clench was desperate, filled with Kaidan's need to feel her, a furious desire to know she's real and right with him.  As he continued to feel her heartbeat, hear her breathing, feel the warm gushes of air on his skin, the grip lessened, his arms weren't quite so crushing, but they never released her.

"Allyse, I missed you so much."  He gulped, the words coming out in a barely audible, choked whisper.  His sobs wet her shoulder, and the ends of her short, bobbed hair as they sat intertwined.  She truly was sitting on his lap now.  A comforting hand rubbed the nape of his neck, and he could hear her crying too.  

"I woke up two years later, and the Cerberus facility was under attack.  I had no idea who anyone was and I was all alone.  For a minute, I thought I might see you.  I'd hoped you'd be standing over my bed or something like that.  I thought it was a hospital."

Guilt poured through him at the whispered confession, his hand tangled in her hair as she wept onto him now.  Fear wasn't something he expected from Allyse, but she'd been holding onto this one for a long time, scared and fighting for her life amongst strangers.  Even if those people later became allies, friends - she'd woken up alone, frightened.  Logically, Kaidan knew he couldn't have been there, Cerberus couldn't entice him even with Allyse herself extending an offer to join, but his heart took in her pain.  He wanted to go back and be there with her, be the first thing she saw when she woke up, fought at her side, kept her alive.

How long they stayed stuck together, he didn't know.  It was cathartic - he'd needed this, since he saw her alive again after two years.  Just touching her, breathing in her scent, Kaidan could put no words to his feelings and didn't try.  When he'd been in the hospital, this is what he hadn't dared hope for, yet couldn't stop himself from dreaming moments like this.  It was amazing how much just holding Shepard made him feel put back together, as if he'd been broken and hadn't noticed.  A nip at his neck brought him back to the present, warm lips pressed against his jaw, her soft face grazing against his stubble.  Across her back, his hands went from a comforting pat to something slower and altogether more sensual as he became keenly aware of Shepard's body wrapped around his own.

"Shepard."  The warning tone in his husky voice caused her to draw back.  Allyse's face was still puffy and damp, but her hands didn't leave his body, they still slithered down his chest, his neck and sides.

"What's wrong, Kaidan?  Got something better to do?"  She was teasing and playful, but he could hear trepidation lacing her words.  He shook his head immediately, hoping to reassure her before he spoke.

"No way.  I just wanted to make sure we're both okay."

"I'm fine.  Are you?"  Allyse was looking at him with some concern now, searching his face.

"Never better."  He replied into the soft skin of her neck, where he was busy dropping a line of soft kisses.  With a soft moan, she arched into him, extending her neck by tilting her head away and Kaidan smiled to himself as he pressed another kiss onto her jaw.


	3. Chapter 3

Allyse's hands were busy getting reacquainted with the hard planes of Kaidan's body, but she let him lead, his kisses turning her into a molten mass right in his arms.  His physique was different, but familiar, like coming home and having to re-learn where everything was.  He had certainly filled out since their time together, just before Ilos, and eager fingertips tugged at his uniform, knowing just where to unbutton and pull to get things going.

Disquiet rumbled through her, and she felt nervousness rising, mixing with the lust she'd been holding in check since they'd fled Vancouver together in the Normandy.  They'd been working towards this, towards each other for months, and now that it was finally here...Allyse couldn't control the tension that she felt.  It had been a slow dance until this moment, her body alight with his touch, but her mind infested with insecurity, both combining to make her head spin.  

There hadn't been anyone, not a single kiss or nary a stray thought since Kaidan.  If it was possible to be bonded to someone just by one instance, they'd accomplished that the first time they'd made love.  Frantically, Allyse's thoughts became panicked, wondering if she could even do this anymore, be part of a couple as the world went to hell.  Was she the same, with her cybernetic implants and brand new body?  Not even her old scars were there anymore, replaced by new ones.  Would Kaidan still want her?  Was there enough her left to want?

"Are you alright?"  Kaidan's concerned whisper brought her out of her torrent of thoughts.

She smiled at him, a slight nod signaling that it was okay to continue.   _Don't think too much_ , she chided herself.  They were still sitting, she on his lap, but the couch wasn't the place for them, not tonight at least.  With an effort, she wrested herself off of him, using coaxing hands to pull him to his feet.

"Come to bed, Kaidan."  Allyse cooed.  She wasn't quite confident, not yet, but she was Commander Shepard, she could order people around without a problem.  Even if it was Kaidan, and she was ordering him in a not-quite-regulation type of way.

Clothes were half undone and rumpled, and she concentrated on her own before she looked at him again.  It was calming, almost, to take off her clothes, to be free from his dizzying touch and her own thoughts.  She thought that he was watching her, and he was, having stripped himself down in a mere flash of time, then turned those deep, soulful eyes onto her, following the swish of her uniform as it was pushed away to expose the bronze skin beneath it. His gaze nearly devoured her as she slid her bra off, everything else already discarded at their feet, and she watched his eyes focus on her breasts, wondering, if for a second he was going to use his biotics.

"You are...even better than I remember."  He murmured reverentially, closing the distance that had grown between them as they'd shed their clothes.  "More beautiful."  He whispered, trailing a finger down her cheek.  Her skin felt alight where he'd touched it, as if his fingertips ignited a blaze beneath the surface.

A whimper escaped the back of her throat, the best and only response she could muster, and Kaidan chuckled against her skin, kisses teasing her as she felt his laughter rumbled throughout his body.  The pointed wet heat of the tip of his tongue left her skin cool as he tasted her, working his way down towards the hardened peaks of her breasts, finally capturing one, and all too briefly suckling before moving on.  His hands roamed purposefully over the rest of her exposed figure as they stood near the edge of the bed.  Just one push and she could topple backwards, sink into the mattress and let blissful oblivion come, sure that Kaidan would do all the work.  Part of her wanted it, more than just a little part, she wanted him to take control here and let him guide her to a mindlessness she hadn't experienced since Cerberus brought her back.  But, as ever, they were dancing, and she wasn't going to sit this out.  There would be other times - Kaidan had promised her that, but never another repeat of this one.

This moment was just too memorable to simply experience it as a passenger.

And with that thought, Allyse slithered a hand between her and Kaidan, tracing the cut of his chest with her fingers before taking his erection in her hand.  He was devilishly hard already, must have been aching as she sat astride him.  A devious grin spread across her face as she tightened her fist around him, stroking from base to tip in one, fast, fluid motion.  

"Oh gah-"  Kaidan gave a full bodied shudder as she did it again, this time squeezing tighter when she reached the tip.  She took a moment to enjoy the look of tortured lust he wore before lowering herself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, teasing the head of his cock with a kiss.  The moans coming from him were satisfying, encouraging, as she locked her legs around Kaidan, drawing him as close as possible as she took his cock into her waiting mouth.  

"Shepard, I won't be able to...argh."  The words disintegrated into a hiss as Allyse used her mouth and hands in concert.  Quick strokes were countered by lapping heat and suction, her tongue twirling around his length.  This wasn't about maintaining that carefully constructed control anymore.  She wanted him to come, to taste the complexity of his bitter, salty fluid, to ease the edgy, hard rush that neediness had lent their coupling.

It took little work on her part, he was a more than eager partner as she suckled and licked at the head of his cock, her hands pumping furiously she felt the muscle spasm the heralded his release.  A hand crept to his ass, pushing him further into her mouth as he tensed, then unwound into his climax.  Kaidan's hips and cock jerked as she felt the gush of sticky fluid on her tongue and he was moaning, ragged, broken sounds that could have been words but made no sense to her as she worked him through his orgasm.  Her movements were gentler, the sweep of her hand across the sensitive skin of his groin was tender, warm pleasure intoxicating him as she made his knees tremble.

Placing a soft kiss to the skin just below his navel, Allyse scooted backwards further towards the middle of the bed, letting a more relaxed Kaidan climb in next to her.  

He kissed her, tangling his fingers in her hair as he took his time, unhurried as he tasted himself on her lips.  Slow - it was how he'd planned to take her all along and he let his lips drift along her skin, relishing every little gasp he elicited from her.

"I can give as good as I get, Allyse."  Kaidan whispered in her ear as he meandered along a course only he could see.  "I promise."  He growled, dark lust hidden behind the placid pace of his kisses.

Without thinking, she laughed, though it came out shaky and fragile to her ears.  "I'm all yours and we've got the time.  Do your worst, Major."

Kaidan took the bait, pulling away from her with brown eyes gleaming in the dim light of her cabin.  Around him, she saw the blue glow of a mass effect field outlining his body, and she shivered as he descended upon her.


	4. Chapter 4

He hadn't been overstating it when he said before that there were _benefits_ to his happiness.  Fantasies had burrowed into his mind, and Kaidan had the time to perfect them in the months they'd spent apart, he'd been besieged by dreams of her since Mars.  More often than not, he'd cursed the time he'd spent away from her, resenting how far the fates had thrown them from each other, but there were benefits to be had, perspective that only time could give.  Even with all that was on his mind, he didn't skip over time to appreciate the view.

Shepard was beautiful, bare, the bronze of her skin tinged with red from the rush of excitement, her desire for him.  Her hand was laying flat against the bed, the other still reaching out to him, an extended arm trying to bring him closer, back to her.  Head tilted back at a slight angle, exposing her endlessly kissable neck, her eyes still watching him, dark, pupils blown wide.  

As he hovered over her, deciding just what to do first, he let his biotics flare just a bit, giving them more charge as he settled in to trail his lips against her stomach and thighs.  He could feel the tingle, the familiar draw of the raw energy as he touched her, making her gasp.  He concentrated a little more, letting the energies become a bit more refined as he inhaled deeply, recalling the calming techniques he'd picked up.  Allyse moaned, letting her knees drop to the sides, sending the musky smell of her arousal wafting up to his nose.  His cock stirred with life again, but Kaidan wasn't thinking about himself at the moment.

It would be sort of a crude use of his powers to just lift her up a few inches from the bed or something of that nature, though he could see the allure in it.  But the point, rather his point, in training his not inconsiderable biotics was to hone them, make them do more with less effort expenditure.  As he kissed a trail up her body, stopping to taste the peaks of her breasts, running his tongue along the soft circle before suckling the hardened nipples.  The energy hummed around them both, adding a skittering undercurrent wherever they touched, making accidental brushes and slight movements more enticing than they should have been.  He let his hand drift between her legs as she was distracted, almost an afterthought to the attention he was lavishing with his busy mouth.  The wet heat of her made him groan as he flicked the tip of his tongue over her clavicle, his fingers tracing her drenched folds. Reluctantly, Kaidan pulled upward, dropping kisses onto her lips, intent on watching her face.  He needed to see her reaction.

"Ahhh!"  A surprised, high-pitched gasp escaped from Allyse, followed by a soft, keening whimper.  "Oh my god!   _Kaidan_."  His name came out in a near growl, the deep, guttural sound making him bite back a moan.  She was writhing away from his hand, and he dulled the intensity, pulling it back just a little, so she wouldn't squirm out of reach.  He was pulsing, the light dancing around his hand exerting a localized pressure between her legs, like an insistent drumbeat around soft fingertips that caressed her folds.

"Is that better?"  He asked in a low murmur.  It was fascinating, seeing her outlined with the faint blue traces of his biotics, feeling her energy mingled with his own.

"Is this?"  She gulped, and opened her glassy eyes to him.  "What having biotics feels like?"

Kaidan chuckled sheepishly, pleased, but a little embarrassed by his display.  Allyse was the first person he'd ever tried this with, the only person that he'd felt comfortable enough with to use his biotics in anything other than a fight.  "I don't usually use them like this."  He answered.

"You could make some serious credits doing this."  Allyse's words came out on the back of a moan and he chuckled again.

"I think the consort has that market cornered, and I'm not cut out to be an acolyte."

He could just hear the retort she had planned, it was nearly a formed thought, just waiting to tumble off her lips when Kaidan pushed his pulsing, glowing finger inside of her.  Instead of her witty retort, all he got was a satisfied moan, a fist clutching bunched up sheets as she closed her eyes.  

He lowered his head again, but this time he didn't spare any kisses, letting his tongue trace a path over the skin just below her bellybutton, moving further downward.  The intoxicating scent of her arousal filled him as he drew closer, so potent he could nearly taste it on the air around her.  Kaidan couldn't stop the moan that escaped him when he finally tasted her, so familiar yet so achingly out of reach for so long.   Suckling her clit, he slipped another finger inside of her, moving them slower, letting the biotics do more of the work, concentrating on savoring every lick, feeling her spasm with pleasure under him, the pleasured gasps that reached his ears through the muffle of her thighs closing in around him.

A hand raked through his hair as hips rocked into his hand, urging him nearer, needing more.  Allyse was curling up off the bed, her body growing more taut as her control eroded.  His anchoring hand came to rest on the inside of her thigh, gently pushing her legs open again, her free hand closing over his, squeezing with every pulse of his biotics, each flick of his tongue.  She was close now, he could hear it, the quickness of her breath, the raw, ragged sounds coming from her, insensible pleading.  As silky heat clamped down around his fingers, a stronger wave of energy throbbed from him, causing her to twist underneath his mouth, bucking and moaning.  Kaidan kept building speed until she completely unwound, her fists full of the sheets as she let loose and _screamed._ _  
_

Sticky wetness covered his hand as she continued to quake, and he pulled the biotics back down to a dim blue flare, letting the fizzy energy wash over them both, prickly but gentle, his fingers working her through her orgasm.  Kaidan glanced up at her and smiled, taking in her dreamy expression, the pleasing flush that ran all through her sweat covered body.  In a hoarse, panting whisper, he heard her calling his name and he withdrew completely, moving up next to her, a biting kiss dragged across her jaw.  Around him the energy flickered and died - he didn't need biotics to make this next part special. _  
_

"I love you, so much."  Allyse whispered once she opened her eyes.  Hands forced his shoulders backward until he was lying flat against the mattress, Allyse on top of him.  He grinned, letting Shepard settle herself on top of him.  

"I've always loved you."  Kaidan said, his voice deeper, rougher as it filled the room.  Allyse rocked her hips against his grinding her wetness against his fullness, the frustratingly delicious friction of cock to cunt making them both moan.  

He completely hard again and she sank onto him, one hand on his thigh, the other resting against his chest as she began to move, slowly at first.  Kaidan couldn't hold in another moan as he felt the grasping tightness around him, the motion almost too much in the first instant.  Gritting his teeth, he let her set the maddeningly slow pace, his hands on her waist, watching her ride him.  Her breasts bounced and hips wiggled as she slid back and forth in contrast to the slight thrusts he was making.

When her speed began to grow, he carefully moved, unable to just sit back and watch her any longer.  She clapped a hand around his neck and vigorously continued, legs wrapping around his waist as he rolled both of them over.  Intense, frenzied kisses nearly stole away every ounce of his concentration as he put her on her back.  Shepard slid her legs up his chest, resting her ankles on his shoulders and he turned his head to kiss one of her ankles before picking up the pace.

They fucked hard, years apart making them more frantic than tender, stripping away everything but the need.  Allyse was panting and arching her back up as he drove into, watching her the jiggle of her breasts with every stroke he slammed home.  Kaidan felt sweat rolling down his body, and he couldn't tell who belong to what moan, the only thing that mattered was the rhythm, him into her, the pleasing thrusting into her warmth that meant she was right here, sensations no dream could ever conjure.

She was coming again, clenching so tight she nearly forced him out of her as she came, just as loud as the last time.  The whole damn crew would hear her shrieking like a mad banshee, and for once, Kaidan didn't give a single shit as he yelled right along with her, the low, throaty noise he made proclaiming that his end was imminent.  He collapsed forward, unable to care about any positioning as he drove forward.  Nails dragged down his sweaty back, and he felt her hands pushing into the soft flesh just above his ass, a heel against his spine insisting he press deeper.

With a roar, Kaidan came, the release causing stars to dance before his eyes as he nearly came to a complete halt, the overwhelming force nearly paralyzing as it rolled through him.  Allyse moved underneath him, hips grinding, walls pressing in around him as he jerked and made incoherent rasping noises until his climax died down into something more manageable.  Kissing her once, dragging a hand through her disheveled hair, he rolled over, catching his breath, letting the air around them leech the fire from his skin.

In time they found their way back together again, her legs intertwined with his, both of them on their sides, facing each other.  Words were few, but there were plenty of slow kisses, and Kaidan was content for the moment.  Sleep found both of them easily, Allyse resting her head against his chest, using him as her pillow.  Time was lost to him, he couldn't even remember when they'd come in, and he wasn't curious enough to use his omni-tool in bed.  

Later that night, there was a second time, much less frantic, but a sleepier, more comfortable interruption to their sleep.  If only they could live like this, together, date nights followed with passion, no war or fighting on their minds.  The bittersweet thought was the last thing Kaidan could remember before sleep took him again.

"This was quite the date.  It lasted into the morning."  Allyse was sitting on the bed, fully dressed.  Kaidan could smell a flowery, fruity scent and knew that she'd already showered, that she was going to finish up her business on the Citadel while the rest of the crew was still on shore leave.

"I'll say."  Kaidan reached a hand out to her and let his fingers cover hers.  At the touch, he saw a full smile blossom on Allyse's face.  "When will you be back?"

"Soon.  You'd better be here when I get back."

"I wouldn't dream of leaving."

Allyse laughed, and oh, the sound was melodious, filling him with a warm, light sensation.  One quick kiss that turned into something deeper as he tried to pull her back into bed only to have her wriggle free again, an impish grin on her face.  Another kiss, then she was gone.  He pulled up his messages on his omni-tool, stalling as he stayed in the messy sheets that still smelled like Shepard.

At first it was one message, then two, then six - the indicator light blinked rapidly, dancing in front of his eyes.  The first was from Joker, and it had a picture that had to have been from the day before.  Allyse was laughing, head tilted slightly up as she looked at Kaidan, who was laughing too with one arm wrapped around her waist.  The caption from the news article said "Spectre Love"  to which Joker had added "Finally."

Most of the other messages were along the same lines, one from Vega that cautioned him to "Treat Lola right." and one from Allers asking for confirmation.  He deleted that one, but saved the picture of the two of them.

But unexpectedly, there was one from Anderson as well.  "Hackett may give you hell, but I couldn't be happier for the both of you.  Get her back to Earth safe."


End file.
